Camdeboo What?

Welcome one and all! I’m off visiting my (other) Lyrical Press sister, DB Sieders today, kicking off my own blog tour for RISK FACTORS but I hope you’ll split a moment of your time with Nerine Dorman here on the Ranch, too!

Grab a beverage of choice, something sweet and sinful. No-no, not the men. What’s the matter with you? You know the hands-on rules… The guest gets first pick! 😉 Take a comfy seat for another, or a first, spin in the Round Pen.

Before I get to the nosy 5-3-4 part of this interview, tell us a bit about you.

To keep it simple, I’m a newspaper sub-editor and writer by day, and a freelance fiction editor and multi-published author once the sun goes down. I like coffee. Okay, I lie, I fricking LOVE coffee. I live in my Treehaus situated near a national park with my husband and other animals. My neighbours really are baboons and I love gardening when I’m not playing my guitar. I read. A lot.

Baboons for neighbors…I’ve heard they are questionable non-peoples! LOL

My writing area at the moment is a corner of the couch in my living room. What does your writing space look like?

I write wherever I can set up my laptop, which is any convenient kitchen counter, lounge coffee table, bed, stolen lunch hours during work or friends’ couches. I *do* have a desk at home in the bedroom where I’m *supposed* to write but currently my bass amp is sitting there… So that pretty much says how much actual writing happens there.

For a lot of writers it’s a life-altering event coming up with titles and character names. Others it comes as naturally as breathing. Which is it for you?

Sometimes names appear in my head with the force of an eighteen-wheeler hitting a wall. Invariably I get an immediate clear image what the character looks like and their mannerisms. Sometimes it takes a little teasing before a name will settle and I can see their face and hear their voice. But I enjoy doing that. Don’t get me started on titles for novels. I totally suck at that and it takes forever for me to decide on something. Sometimes a novel will go through several different names before I’m satisfied.

What advice would you offer aspiring and new writers?

Read a lot, and outside of your chosen genres. Also, don’t be in a rush to get published. Choose your publisher carefully and do background checks on the Absolute Write Forums, as well as Preditors and Editors and Author Beware. Having no publisher is better than being stuck with a bad publisher who’s going to screw you over. Also, take time to revise, and when you’re working with an editor, be pedantic and CHECK EVERYTHING even though you really never ever want to see that book ever again. Once you sign off on a batch of edits, that’s it. The buck stops by you.

The constant shift of the industry makes me often scratch my head and ask ‘what next?’ So, what do you think it takes to be a successful author at the moment?

Authors who constantly look at ways of improving their writing, who’re consistent in their efforts, will eventually build a career. Don’t be disheartened by all those stories of authors whose debut novels get offered seven-digit figures. They’re the exception; not the rule. Writing is a lot of hard work and if you approach it sensibly, although you might not make oodles of money, it’s probably one of the most intensely rewarding experiences to write a novel and eventually hold a physical copy in your hands.

I completely agree, Nerine. Who wouldn’t want to be Stephanie Meyers? But then we wouldn’t be writing our own stories, would we?

Who would you like to meet in the publishing industry- dead or alive- and why?

I’d like to have a proper high tea with Neil Gaiman, because I’ve admired him for a very long time. His Sandman series has probably been one of the most influential works. That being said, I’d also love to add a few of my favourite ladies of fantasy and SF to the table, such notables as Mary Gentle, Anne Rice, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K Le Guin, CJ Cherryh, Storm Constantine, Trudi Canavan, Kate Elliot and Jacqueline Carey. Just because I think the conversation that will do the rounds then will be something else, and all these amazing women, and to put Mr Gaiman at the centre of this would be highly entertaining.

I might invite Billy Martin in as well, if he’s keen to put in an appearance. His writing under the name of Poppy Z Brite was also highly influential in my younger years.

It’s time for 3 in 1! I’ll ask the questions and you answer them in one word. 😆

Favorite animal? Wolf (Mine too! Well, besides horses.)

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter? Fall

Favorite food? Pizza

Well done! 🙂

Okay, Flash four. Ready?

What are you working on now?

An awful story involving lesbian faeries and stolen children. No. Really. And I’m revising a story about a talking griffin who inadvertently brings about the end of the civilization. (Yes, this is a nod to Mercedes Lackey, but gone horribly, horribly wrong.) I have the follow-up to Inkarna, as well as the third in my Books of Khepera series on the backburner, and am currently revising book two in the latter series for republishing.

Lesbian fairies… Okay then! LOL

What are you sharing today?

Now the story I really want to share with you is Camdeboo Nights, which released earlier this month. This is what some of the reviewers have said:

“This book is reminiscent of an Alice In Wonderland type-tale which starts out as an ordinary teen under duress as a result of her parents’ divorce. When a strange boy shows up on her balcony one night, a chain reaction begins that culminates in a snowball of wow after WOW!” – Carrie Clevenger, author of Crooked Fang

“In a genre filled with dystopian settings peopled with teens fighting huge social and ethical problems, Nerine Dorman’s Camdeboo Nights is a refreshing change. The South African setting is at once wild and mysterious, but hardly dystopian. Her characters suffer problems that are huge to them – bullies, family issues, falling in love with the wrong person, but typical teen issues.” – Amy Lee Burgess, author of The Wolf Within series

In short, Camdeboo Nights is a part road-trip, part dip into Africa’s mythical past, and all about the bonds of friendship forged when life takes a decidedly weird turn.

As always, I’m mostly lurking on Twitter, polluting the Twitterverse with my general snark and silly buggers. Occasionally I share links to stuff that might actually be useful, like book reviews or interesting articles I encounter. Follow me @nerinedorman

I’m offering one copy of my latest novel, Camdeboo Nights, if you’re willing to tell me which country Camdeboo Nights is set in.

Ooh, great question!

Thank you so much for playing along, Nerine! Wishing you much luck with your book and writing. I hope you’ll come visit again one day.

Great to mee you, Nerine, I really do like the sound of your books. Lesbian fairies, dystopian qualities and the wilds of Africa all do call to my sense of adventure — I can’t wait to read Camdeboo Nights (yes I know there are no lesbian fairies in it…) Good luck with it!

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